The Briar Cliff football team hung with the #1 ranked Morningside Mustangs Saturday at Elwood Olsen Stadium. 
 
"Extremely proud of our men and staff today," said head coach Shane LaDage. "We came out firing and played great football for three quarters. To beat a great program, you have to play clean football for the entire game, and we weren't able to complete the task. We're excited to get back to work tomorrow and we know there is greatness in our future."
 
After holding the Mustangs to a field goal in the opening drive of the game, the Chargers took a shot in their first play of the game. On the Chargers' 17-yard line, Steven Whiting hauled in a 64-yard pass from Luke Davies to move inside the redzone. Spencer George caught his second touchdown of the season from seven yards out, as the Chargers took a 7-3 lead. 
 
MJ Montgomery put a stop to Morningside's second drive of the game, forcing a fumble on a sack of Joe Dolincheck, which was recovered by Tim McCarthy on BC's 27-yard line. The Chargers dialed up a 76-yard pitch and catch from Davies to Damarreon Nelson for a touchdown on the first play. 
 
The Mustangs answered with 14 straight points to take a 17-14 lead with 13:50 left in the second quarter. The Chargers quickly moved into the redzone with an Aaron Okoro 37-yard reception, followed by a Spencer George 20-yard catch. However, the BC offense stalled, and a Jonathan Branner field goal tied the game at 17-17.
 
The Chargers reached the redzone for the fourth time in the first half, but again had to settle for a field goal. Morningside closed the half with a touchdown to extend their lead to 31-20.
 
Against a Mustang secondary that has allowed just 174.0 passing yards per game, BC put up 282 passings yards with two touchdowns Six Chargers caught a pass in the first half. 
 
The second half was all Morningside as they outscored BC 28-3 over the final 30 minutes. Jonathan Branner made his third field goal of the game, converting from 35 yards with 9:21 left in the third. 
 
Nelson eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark and caught a touchdown for the second straight game, while Whiting reached the 100 yards for the first time in his BC career. George led the Cliff with eight receptions to go with 68 yards and a TD. 
 
Davies completed 24-of-42 pass attempts for 363 yards and two TDs. He has thrown for over 350 passing yards in two straight games.
 
Winston Gassant has a team-high 12 tackles, followed by Carlos Alvarez and Brett Tinker who had nine each. BC totaled four tackles for a loss, and Montgomery tallied the only sack. Antonio Brown Jr. notched two pass breakups. 
 
Briar Cliff is back at Memorial Field next Saturday for a Homecoming matchup against Mount Marty. Kickoff between the Chargers and Lancers is set for 1 p.m.